Schroder sq and the new talea

However - a roman gladius, its blade made from the special alloy produced by a certain celtic tribe in the area of lake Chiemsee in southern Bavaria ( because the soil there was contaminated by millions of fragments from an exploded comet which exploded in the sky above their territory a few hundred years before ) had an inherent quality which by far exceeded (in all critical aspects of "performance" such as hardness, durability, weight etc.) all other swords of its time for 3 centuries and won the roman empire the pre-dominance in Europe.

Not everyone thinks that Rome's dominance was a good thing. So- are you saying this is a good thing or a bad thing? It still seems like a matter of declaration...

Atmasphere, I still believe that true value in the sense of the word has nothing to do with declaration or point of view of people but with its inherent quality.
Yes - today "value" in the mind of most people is only applied by the thinking of the customer and it's acceptance ( or success ) in the market.
Which tells nothing about the true meaning of the term value, but a lot of our modern times.
Consequently the true value can only recognized by the objective expert ( impossible in audio...;-) ... ).
Finally this comes down to the old conflict of two apparently similar on first sight, but in truth totally different positions - the volontè génèrale versus the volontè de tous.
It is obvious that my own position is firmly with the first camp.
While today's market and it's participants have to deal with the omnipresent second.
We live in the world we created - no one to blame but ourselves.
Wouldn't you too like to design your OTL's without taking into accounts many "market calls" and "fashions of the day" ?
Only a rhetorical question .....;-) ....

"the volontè génèrale versus the volontè de tous"

How can the general will be different from the will of all? I'm at a loss to see the difference.

...just trying to understand.

"Price is what you pay, value is what you get" -- Warren Buffett

Value is then in the eye of the beholder. The cost of materials Picasso used to create "Guernica" amounted to a few dollars, yet the value of his creation is incalculable. On a larger scale, price and value meet on the open market.

On a personal scale, high end manufacturers allow me to experience a facimile of Coltrane's genius; a tremendous value to myself which I am fortunate to share with my immediate family. Nor is it possible for me to assign a value to the friendships that have resulted from participating in this hobby and sharing the joys of music. This has immeasurably enriched my life.

I would not be so presumptious to assign a different value to anyone else.

'Value', as a concept, cannot explain why humans value oxygen but are not being prepared to spend their money to buy any quantities of it.

'Marginal Utility' is a better concept in that respect: it explains the hefty premium people are prepared to pay for luxury goods according to tangible or intangible (such as 'perceived status') benefits.

It is possible that one man's 'marginal utility' is another man's foolishness, but, hey, we live in democracy :-)

Because of the subjective nature of 'marginal utility', that only partially is amenable to logic, it is impossible to synthesise the polarised views expressed in this thread.

This, though, should not be an obstacle in having more events like the one organised by Thom in the RMAF 2010